Shelley Berkley, Senior Vice President of the Touro University System

Shelley Berkley to be Honored for Her Contributions to Touro University During 50th Anniversary Gala

Dec 1, 2022

Shelley Berkley, Senior Vice President of the Touro University System and former CEO and Senior Provost of Touro University Western Division, will be recognized at the Touro 50th anniversary Gala and convocation in New York City on Dec 4.

Berkley is one of four individuals being honored for leading the university system’s expansion, impact, and innovation over the past 50 years.

Berkley most recently served as CEO and Senior Provost of Touro University Western Division for more than eight years, during which she oversaw the growth and continued success of several programs.

“I am honored to be recognized among my colleagues during Touro’s 50^th anniversary Gala as we celebrate the success of this exceptional system of higher education,” she said. “In the U.S. and around the world, Touro is helping to educate students in several disciplines, most notably in health care and education. At Touro University Nevada, our medical school is educating the future physicians who are staying right here in our state to practice medicine after they graduate. I am grateful for the opportunity I’ve had with Touro for the last decade and look forward to what the future holds for this institution.”

Berkley’s leadership was instrumental in helping guide Touro through the unprecedented times of COVID-19, which included the transition to virtual learning and seeing to it that Touro served on the frontlines against the pandemic, beginning with testing and treating the Valley’s homeless population at Cashman Center in the earliest days.

She has personally fostered and nurtured several notable partnerships that are improving the education of Touro’s students, with the goal of improving the health care landscape in Southern Nevada.

Since coming to Touro University Nevada in 2013, the partnerships that Berkley helped cultivate have led to the creation of the university’s three mobile healthcare clinics; the Touro Gala, which has provided millions of dollars in student scholarships; the Michael Tang Regional Center for Clinical Simulation and the Stephen J. Cloobeck Regional Center for Disaster Life Support; a $3 million endowment gift from the State of Qatar in 2020 to support Touro’s Center for Autism & Developmental Disabilities and allow Touro to hire more therapists and increase the number of families served; a $1 million grant from the Engelstad Foundation in collaboration with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to provide life-saving ‘stop the bleed’ training to local officers and first responders, and several more initiatives.

Prior to joining Touro, Berkley served the State of Nevada in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2013. She was the second woman elected to Congress from Nevada and the first woman to serve the 1st Congressional District. Prior to serving in Congress, Berkley was Vice President of Government and Legal Affairs at the Sands Hotel and Casino, a practicing attorney, and an elected member of the University Board of Regents.